Steering mechanism



June 17; 1924., Y I r 1,497,976

J. H. HAMMOND. JR

swssame usczmmsu Original Filed 08 21, 1915 2 Sheets-Shoal 1 WITNESS- Z Z X mvmm% A TTURIVEY June-17, 1924. 1,497,976

J. H. HAMMOND, JR

STE-ER 1N6 MECHANI SM original Filed 1915 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESS z INVEIVQTUR I A TTORNEY Patented June 17, 1 924.-

'UNITED STATES JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, JR., 0F GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEERING MECHANISM.

Application filed Decemberfll, 1915, Serial No. 68,043. Renewed August 25, 1923.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN HAYS HAM.- MOND, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Gloucester, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steering Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

Some of the objects of this invention are to provide improved means for steering a dirigible body, such, for instance, as a marine vessel; to provide cooperating means for propelling and steering a dirigible body,

I and propellers are arranged outside of and at the stern or rear end of the vessel to operate upon the water or other fluid medium supporting or surrounding the vessel. The rudders 10 and 11 are preferably rigidly secured to parallel substantially vertical rudder shafts 20 and 21, which are mounted in suitable fixed bearings carried by the vessel to oscillate about their longitudinal axes respectively, and which are arranged upon opposite sides of and equal distances from a vertical plane extending longitudinally and centrally of the vessel. The propellers 13, 14, 15 and 16 are of the same construction and dimensions and are rigidly secured to the outer ends of four substantially parallel shafts 25, 26, 27 and 28, which extend longitudinally of the vessel and substantially in' the same lane, and which are arranged to rotate a ut their longitudinal axes in fixed bearings 30, 31, 32 and 33 carried by the vessel.

Two (13 and 14) of the propellers, and their corresponding shafts 25 and 26 are arranged upon one side and two (15 and 16) of the propellers and their corresponding shafts 27 and 28 are arranged upon the other side of a vertical plane extending longitudinally and centrally of the vessel,

the outer shafts 25 and 28 being at substantially equal distances from and upon opposite sides of the vertical central plane, and the inner shafts 26 and 27 being likewise at equal distances from and upon opposite sides of the same plane.

The propeller shafts 25, 26, 27 and 28 The tank 40 is connected by pipe 41 and through a carburetor 42 and a pipe 43 with the outer engin 35 upon the lefthand side of the vessel, and is connected by the pipe 41, a branch pipe 45and through a carburetor 46 and a pipe 47 with the outer engine 38 upon the right hand side of the vessel. These two carburetors 42 and 46 are provided with rotary throttle valves, which are controlled respectively by oscillatory levers 50 and 51 rigidly secured to the throttle valves respectively, whereby the amount of combustible gaseous mixture which flows into the two outer engines 35 and 38 may be regulated to control or vary the speed of these outer engines.

The air tank 40 is also connected through pipe 41, branch pipe 45, pipes 52 and 53 and carburetors 54 and 55 with the inner engines 36 and 37 respectively. These last mentioned carburetors may be provided with suitable throttle'valves independently controlled by levers 56 and 57 whereby the speed of the inner engines 36 and 37 may be controlled or varied.

For swinging the rudders 10 and 11 simultaneously either in one direction or in the opposite direction, the rudder posts 20 and 21 are provided with bevelled gears 60 and 61 rigidly secured thereto, and which are engaged by bevelled pinions 62 and 63 which are rigidly secured-respectively to the outer ends of two longitudinally alined transversely extending shafts 65 and 66 which are arranged to rotate about thelr longitudinal axes in the fixed bearings 30, 31, 32-and 33. Rigid'ly secured to the inner ends of these shafts 65 and 66, are two bevelled gears 70 and 71 which engage against the opposite sides of a'bevelled pinion 72, which is rigidly secured upon the outer end of a shaft 7 3,- which extends longitudinally and centrally of the vessel and which is arranged to rotate in fixed bearings 74, 75, 76 and 77. Rigidly secured to the foremost end of this longitudinal shaft 73 is a pinion 80, which enages the underside of a transversely extending substantially horizontal rack 81 which is rigid and substantially coaxial with a piston rod 82, one end of which projects through one end of a fixed steering cylinder 83 and is rigidly secured to a piston 84; arranged to re ciprocate Within the cylinder. I The outer end of the piston rod 82 is arranged to reciprocate in a fixed bearing 85. Fluid under pres: sure is admitted into and exhausted from the opposite ends of the cylinder 83 through two pipes 86 and 87 which are controlled by any suitable means so as to move the piston either in one direction or in the opposite direction at the willof an operator. The piston 84 is normally held in a central position in the cylinder 83 by means of two spiral springs-88 and 89 arranged within the cylinder and upon opposite sides of the piston 84.

For automatically reducing or varying the speed or operation of one or the other of the outer engines 35 and 38 to cooperate with the rudders 10'-and 11- in steering the vessel, either to the right or'to the left from a given course, the throttle levers 50 and 51 controlling the speeds of the outer engines 35 and 38 are arranged to be oscillated by two longitudinally alined plungers 90 and 91 which are parallel to the piston rod 80 and which are arranged'to reciprocate longitudinally in fixed bearings 92 and 93.

The outer ends of these plungers 90 and 91 are provided with pins 94 and 95 rigid therewith respectively, and which are slidably arranged respectively in slots 96 and 97 provided therefor in the controlling levers 50 and 51 respectively. The inner ends of these plungers 90 and 91 are arranged in the paths of and to be engaged by two lugs 98 and 99 which are rigid with the rack 81. These plungers are normally held yieldingly in their innermost positions with their inner ends spaced slightly from the corresponding lugs 98 and 99 by means of spiral springs 110 and 111 respectively, which connect the levers 50 and 51 with the fixed bearings 92 and 93.

The construction and arrangement of this improved steering mechanism is preferably such that when the means controlling the pipes 86 and 87 is so adjusted by the operator that no pressure is allowed to enter the ends of the steering cylinder 83, and the rack 81 is consequently yieldingly held in a central position bythe springs 88 and 89, the rudders 10 and 11 will extend substantially longitudinally of the vessel, and when the engines'35, 36, 37 and 38 are rotated at substantially equal rates, the vessel will proceed upon a straight course.

The inner ends of the plungers 90 and 91 are normally spaced at such equal distances from the lugs 98 and 99 that the rack 81 may be reciprocated independently of either of the plungers 90 and 91 through a limited path sufficient to cause the rudders to maintain the vessel normally upon a substantially fixed course without modifying the action of any one of the engines or propellers.

' When it is desired to steer the vessel to the right, the means for controlling the pipes 86 and" 87 is adjusted by the operator to permit fluid under pressure to pass through thepipe 86 into the inner or left hand end of the steering cylinder 83, and to permit the opposite end of the steering cylinder to exhaust through the pipe 87, whereupon the rack 81 will be moved toward the right which will cause the rack 81 to rotate the pinion 80, shaft 73, pinion 72, gears and 71, shafts 65 and 66, pinions 62 and 63, gears 60 and 61, and rudder shafts 20 and 21, to swing the two rudders 10 and 11 simultaneously counterclockwise to steer the vessel towards the right. At the same time, this movement of the rack 81 towards the right causes the lug 99 to push the right hand plunger 91 towards the right and rotates the throttle lever 51 clockwise against the action of the spring 111, which acts by decreasing the opening of the corresponding throttle to decrease the speed of the right hand engine 38. The other three engines, 35, 36, and 37 will continue to rotate at the usual rates. By thus decreasing the speed of the right hand engine' 38, the corresponding'propeller 16 is retarded and acts to assist the rudders 10 and 11 in steering the boat towards the right.

When'it is desired to steer the boat towards the left, the means for controlling thepipes 86 and 87 is adjusted by the operator to permit fluid under pressure to enter the right hand end of the steering cylinder 83, and to permit the left hand end of the cylinder 83 to exhaust through the pipe 86, whereupon the piston 84 and rack 81 will be moved outwardly thus swing a clockwise direction through the action a of the intermediate gearing. This outward movement of the rack 81 will push the left hand lunger 90 towards the left to rotate the le t hand throttle lever 50 counterclockwise against the action of the spring 110, thus decreasing the speed of the left hand engine 35 to assist the rudders 10 and 11 in steering the boat towards the left.

Instead of having the speeds of the outer engines 35 and 38 automatically controlled by the steering piston 8a acting through throttle levers 50 and 51 as hereinbefore described, the plungers 90 and 91 might be arranged, as shown in Fig. 2, to control or reduce thespeeds of the outer engines 35 and 38 by retarding the times of sparking in the several cylinders of these engines.

In this modified form of the invention, the

a fixed airis'and carrying internal contacts 114 fixed thereon. and arranged to be e11- gaged by a contact 115 which is suitably mounted to be rotated coaxially with and independently of the sleeve 113 by the corresponding engine and to engage the contacts 114 successively, whereby through well known connections such as wires 120 leading from the contacts 114 to the several spark plugs 121, and a wire leading from the rotary contact through a magneto or other source of electrical energy, the sparks in the several cylinders are produced at predetermined times. In the modified form of this invention, when the steering piston 84 is pushed a sufficient distance towards the left to swing the rudders 10 and 11 clockwise to steer the vessel towards the left, the left hand plunger 91 will rotate the corresponding spark lever 112 counterclockwise to retard the sparks and correspondingly decrease the speed of the corresponding left hand engine 35 to assist the rudders in steering the vessel towards the left; and when the piston 84 is forced a suflicient distance towards the right, the rudders 10 and 11 Will be swung counter-clockwise and the sparks of the left hand engine will be retarded and the speed of the right hand engine will be consequently decreased to assist the rudders in steering the vessel towards the right.

Instead of having the steering mechanism arranged to act-upon the outer propellers 13 and 16 only by varying their rates of rotation either through the action of throttle valves, as shown in Fig. 1, or by retardation of the. times of sparking, as shown in Fig. 2, the steering mechanism may be arranged, as shown in Fig. 3, to control a plurality of propellers having swiveling or reversible blades by acting upon the'blades of a selected propeller to change the pitch of the blades either to vary or reverse the effect of the propeller upon the vessel.

In this modified form of the invention, each of the plungers 90 apd 91 is connected to one end of a bell crank 125 which is pivoted. as at 126 to swing about a fixed axis. The other end of the bell crank 125 is connected to one end of a connecting rod 127, the other end of which is connected to one end of a lever 128 arranged to oscillate about a fixed pivot 129. The other end of this lever 128 is provided with a yoke 130, which engagesin an annular recess 131 provided therefor in a sleeve 132, which surrounds and is arranged to'reciprocate upon the corresponding propeller shaft 28 and to change the pitch of the blades of the propeller 135. The propeller 135 may be of any well known or suitable swiveling construction having a hub 136 rigidly secured to the shaft 28, and having blades 137 pivotally connected to the hub 136 and arrangedto be oscillated with respect to the hub by the reciprocation of the sleeve 132. Normally, the blades of the propeller 135 are so arranged as to drive the vessel forwardly, but when the corresponding plunger 91 is pushed outwardly as a re sult of the movement of the steering piston 84, the bell crank 125 is swung about its axis 126 pushing the rod 127 outwardly and through the action of the lever 128 moving the sleeve 132 inwardly, thus first reducing the pitch of the blades 137 of the propeller 135, and then if the sleeve-132 is moved further inwardly the pitch of the propeller will be reversed, and the propeller will then act to exert a rearward pull upon one side of the vessel. It is tobe understood, however, that instead .of having the sleeve 132 thus automatically moved to a sutficient extent to reverse the action of the propeller 135 without changing its direction of rotation, the movement of the sleeve might be so limited'as to cause the bladesf137 of the propeller 135 to be moved from their normal operative positions to substantially neutral positions where the blades would revolve without acting to force the vesselin either direction.

It is evident from the foregoing that this invention might be further modified so that the steering mechanism would simultaneously control the throttle and also the times of sparking of either of the outer engines by having the throttle levers 50 and 51 connected to the throttles, as shown in Fig. 1, and also connected to the spark systems. as shown in Fig. 2. It is also evident that this invention might be modified to have the steering mechanism simultaneously control the throttle, the spark system and the pitch of the propeller of any one or more of the engines to facilitate the steering of the vessel. It is also evident that the steering mechanism might be connected to vary the pitch of any one or more of the propellers and at the same time vary the speed of the corresponding engine either through the action of the throttle or the spark system or both. It is also evident that instead of having'the steering mechanism arrangedv to control only one engine'or propeller upon each side of theyessel, the steering mechanism might be arranged to control both engines and propellers or any number of engines and propellers either simultaneously or consecutively upon each side of the vessel.

Only a few of the various forms in which this invention may be embodied have been illustrated, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific construction, but might be applied in va rious ways to meet various requirements without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. Havingthus fully described this invention, I claim: I

1. The combination with a movable body, of a plurality of independently operative propellers for actuating said body, means for steering said body, and means controlled by said steering means and operable a predetermined interval after an initial action of said steering means for causing one of said propellers to rotate at a rate different from that of another of said propellers, to assist said steering means in steering said body.

2. The combination with a movable body, of means for propelling said body, means for steering said body, and means controlled by said steering means for modifying the action of said propelling means to assist said steering means in steering said'body, said steering means. being initially 'operath'e within predetermined limits independently of said propelling means.

3. The combination with a movable body of a plurality of propellers for actuating said body, fluid actuated means for steering said body, and means controlled by said steering means for modifying the rate of action of one of said propellers, to assist said steering means in steering said body, said steering means initially being operative within predetermined limits independentlyof said propellers.

4. The combination with a movable body, of means for propelling said body; means for steering said body, and means controlled by said steering means for modifying the movable with respect thereto for propelling said body, a rudder arranged to steer sai body, means to independently vary the speed of said propelling elements, actuating means for said rudder, and means disconnected from' said actuating means but in the path of movement thereof to be enga ed thereby for operating oneor the other of said speed varying means simultaneously with the movement of said rudder after a predetermined initial movement of said rudder actuating means.

.6. The combination with a movable body, of a rudder for steering said body, fluid actuated means for operating said rudder, a pair of propellers for propelling said body, driving means for said propellers, independent means for controlling the speed of said propellers, and means in the path of said rudder actuating means and arranged to be engaged thereby for operating one of said speed controlling means, whereby the rate of movement of one of said propellers is varied with respect to the other.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this tenth day of December, A. D. 1915.

JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, JR. lVitnesses:

ALBERT D. TRENOR, A. I. GARDNER. 

